Student Inquiry: Tico Perspective
San Jose, Costa Rica
Veritas University
The first two weeks studying abroad are like treading water.
Before you walk on the streets, what’s your mindset?
Are you nonchalant about your appearance?
Do you hold onto your cell phone while walking?
Do you love to talk loudly in English?
How do you carry your bags?
It is imperative to know these things while studying abroad in Costa Rica, especially living in the city of San Jose.
You need a Tico Perspective to adapt and attempt to blend in.
This is your playground if you make it, but people will make you the toy if you let them.
Always be aware of your surroundings, gringos.
The key things to remember are to ask questions, have a positive attitude, and be aware of new cultural behaviors and norms.
“So how do Ticos (Costa Ricans) view… ?”
“What building is that?”
“Who is that sculpture of in front of that building?”
A walk downtown can change a significant amount of your perspective about the city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Just walking with my professor of Selected Topics in Afro-Caribbean History at Veritas University, I was able to get insight into history, interactions of peoples within the Tico population, and develop a new attitude towards areas where I generally tend to gravitate towards in order to be “culturally immersed” in to Costa Rican city life.
That pretty park near the office buildings can turn into a historical landmine; that weird shaped building can be a a new fountain of cultural happenings; that old man sleeping on the side of the road can be a topic of discussion of human rights with your Tico family at dinner.
San Jose, this city, is rich. And you’ll fail to notice … unless you ask questions.